Monday, January 6, 2014

Jukebox: Confluence - "Awaiting"

The word "math" comes with connotations of calculation, as if everything is but a series of numbers and equations scrawled onto some apathetic kid's test paper: Denver math-rock band Confluence, however, defies that easy pigeonhole, offering brimming warmth to go with technically impressive rhythms and songwriting on its new single "Awaiting" (also available for free download below). Though the song's cadence is complex, going from 5/4 to 6/4 and everything in between, there's a resilience to its restlessness. The sunny bass melodies and the sharp bits of guitar swirling in here and there put the song firmly in Enemies territory, bubbling with tension even as they wash over the listener, while the vocal--more prominent here than in the work of most math-rock outfits--lends the ragtag arrangement gravity, outlining a relationship circling the drain before ending on an abrupt possibility: "They knew that they could make it happen." Sounds like something interesting is already happening here.